All posts tagged: Newsom

Aide involved in affair with Gavin Newsom in 2005 speaks out

Aide involved in affair with Gavin Newsom in 2005 speaks out

An aide involved in an affair with Gavin Newsom more than 20 years ago, when he was mayor of San Francisco, detailed their relationship and her journey to sobriety in an essay published by Vanity Fair on Tuesday. Although Ruby Rippey, 54, has spoken previously about her relationship with the now-governor, her first-person essay offers the most intimate description yet of the affair. It comes at a time when Newsom is wrapping up his final year as California governor and considering a presidential run in 2028. Rippey, who had worked as Newsom’s appointments secretary, was married to Alex Tourk, the then-mayor’s close friend, campaign manager and prior deputy chief of staff, when the affair became public in 2007. Tourk resigned after Rippey told him that she had been sleeping with their boss, she writes. At the time, Newsom was newly divorced from Kimberly Guilfoyle and he apologized in front of a gaggle of reporters who packed his office for a news conference, admitting “everything you’ve heard and read is true.” Later, he said he was …

Gavin Newsom is much worse than you think

Gavin Newsom is much worse than you think

Gavin Newsom made headlines this winter by vowing to defeat a proposal for a one-time 5% tax on billionaires in the state. The move was a notable one for the California governor, whom many national polls now rank as the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028; aligning with the ultra-wealthy is not auspicious for wooing the party’s voters. Last year, a Reuters-Ipsos poll reported that a whopping 86% of Democrats said “changing the federal tax code so wealthy Americans and large corporations pay more in taxes should be a priority.” Newsom has drawn widespread praise for waging an aggressive war of words against Donald Trump. Since at least June 2025, when the president deployed National Guard troops and Marines to quell protests in Los Angeles against his mass deportation campaign, Newsom and his team have successfully tapped into the need that many rank-and-file Democrats have for adopting a confrontational approach to Trump and his policies. But few people outside of California know much about the governor’s actual record — and many Democratic voters …

Newsom knocks Bessent over ‘Sparkle Beach Ken’ crack

Newsom knocks Bessent over ‘Sparkle Beach Ken’ crack

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) went after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent over comments he made about the Golden State governor in which he likened him to “American Psycho” character Patrick Bateman. “The Treasury secretary talked about a Barbie doll. It was as if he was reading a diary, and had just broken up with someone.… Source link

Newsom Strains To Flip Script On California’s Failures

Newsom Strains To Flip Script On California’s Failures

Authored by Susan Crabtree via American Greatness, It’s an odd predicament for a leading Democratic presidential contender. Gavin Newsom’s biggest strength—political spin and performance come almost second nature to him—could also be his biggest liability as he strains to remake the tarnished image of the state he has governed for the last seven years. Newsom, with his smooth-talking, rapid-fire responses and his attempt to out-Trump Trump on social media aggression, is everything Kamala Harris wasn’t in 2024. But neither Californian can easily shake the biggest millstone dragging down their White House ambitions. Their failed progressive policies have sullied the Golden State’s image, driving up prices, homelessness, and mismanagement. The failures have not only driven citizens away but are also likely to turn off voters in swing battleground districts as well. California’s failures weren’t Harris’ biggest weakness in 2024—her word salads were. But the Golden State’s downward spiral was a close second. As wildfire victims held vigils and prayer circles on the anniversary of the devastating Palisades and Eaton fires, Newsom on Thursday attempted to flip …

Gavin Newsom Would Rather Be Wrong Than Weak

Gavin Newsom Would Rather Be Wrong Than Weak

Gavin Newsom has a 30-page file of reasons the Democrats lost the 2024 presidential election. Bounding across his Sacramento office, he starts listing them: incumbency, inflation, interest rates, Israel—and that’s just the letter I. “Yes, too woke,” he adds. “Yes, 107 days,” referring to the short campaign after Joe Biden’s forced withdrawal. But the California governor distills his party’s problem down to one word. Weak. Newsom slaps his hand on a marked-up hardback of Bill Clinton’s memoir, brought down from the shelf a minute earlier. “Given the choice,” he tells me, summing up a crucial Clinton insight—one many Democrats still can’t quite seem to grasp—“the American people always support strong and wrong versus weak and right.” According to prediction markets and early polling, Newsom is the Democrats’ current front-runner for 2028. He is also one of the most visible anti-Trump forces in America. His idea of strength includes a willingness to fight dirty, going lower than Barack Obama could ever imagine, and so his social-media accounts bristle with memes about Donald Trump’s bruised hand and …